Re: We Can Tell If A Church..
- From: The Curmudgeon <nobody@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 06 Sep 2006 08:42:36 -0700
On Sat, 02 Sep 2006 21:52:15 GMT, "Andrew" <andrew.321remov@xxxxxxx>
wrote:
"BAM" wrote in message news:vNiKg.18396$ry2.13028@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
**
The Catholic Church, founded by Jesus Christ, is the Bride of Christ. And as
the husband and wife become one flesh, the Church becomes the Body of
Christ.
We can tell if a church is part of the "Body of Christ" if it is teaching the same things
that Jesus taught.
Let's look at a few examples which will help us see -if- a church is following Jesus the
Good Shepherd -or- if it is one of the apostate churches that we have been told would
arise.
Jesus gave instruction to HIS sheep that when THEY pray, they are to pray -TO- "Our
Father in heaven" (Matt 6:9). Now, if there happens to be any church that tries to teach
its members to "pray" to people who have died..or to any..other than to the living God,
that would be a clear indication that it is an apostate organization which is leading their
flock in a way contrary to that which our true Shepherd taught.
Let's take another example: Jesus gave specific instruction to His church that they are to
never call their spiritual leaders.."Father" (Matt 23:9). Therefore if religious leaders try to
teach the people to call THEM "Father"..then that would be positive indication that such
are shepherds of an apostate church organization which is leading their flock contrary to
the way that Christ taught..as we were told would happen and have been warned against.
Also any 'Church' which teaches that self imposed atonement (penance) has merit with
God, would be teaching an antichrist doctrine. For the full atonement for sins has been
provided in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
More apostate "sola scriptura" Protestant claptrap.
Sola scriptura is a man-made doctrine that was promoted by Martin
Luther in the early 1500s. Has nothing to do with early Christianity.
The Bible as we know it today, and as it was handed down to us, was
written and assembled **under the auspices of the Church**. It was men
guided by the Holy Spirit, within the Church, divinely inspired to
write what they did, and it was individual churches who, over a period
of time by accepting certain books and not others, determined the
canon of the NT.
The Bible (the Written Word & Tradition) is only one part of our
faith, not the only part.
There is a valid Oral Tradition, which existed within the Church
before anything was ever written down. The first written copies of
Scripture did not appear until about the third or fourth century A.D.
and even then there was not agreement as to which books belonged and
which didn't. It was up to the individual churches for the most part.
Each church had it's own collection of sacred books.
The Book of Revelation was accepted in the West, but not in the
Eastern Churches. The Aremenian Christian Bible and the Syrian Bibles
still do not have it to this day.
On the other hand, Hebrews was accepted by the Eastern Churches, but
for a long long time it was not accepted by the Western Roman Church.
The earliest existing complete NT, the Codex Sinaticus, (approx
250-300 AD) does not have Hebrews. The resistance to Hebrews was
mostly due to it's unknown authorship - it was argued that it was not
Apostolic in its authorship, but as it had been accepted by the
Eastern Churches for many years already, it was finally accepted by
the Western Church.
I am mentioning all of this to try and make a point here. Scripture
came through the Church, and the Church is its guardian, protector,
teacher, and interpreter of it. Every man going off and doing his own
thing so to speak, fractures the Body of Christ, and goes against the
unity that Jesus, the head and founder of the Church, and His
Apostles, preached. That's why there are over 25,000 Protestant
denominations with the number growing daily. Don't like your churches
interpretation of the Bible? Move down the block and start your own
church......
Submission, obedience to apostolic authority, the realization that
it's not your own interpretation or human intellect that should rule,
but rather God's authority..... all these things are admittedly hard
for modern-day Americans to swallow. But accept them you must, if you
are interested in belonging to the one true faith that has come down
to us in unbroken succession from Christ and His Apostles.
"Yet first you must understand this, that no prophecy of Scripture is
a matter of any personal or private or special interpretation
(loosening, solving).
For no prophecy ever originated because some man willed it to do
so--it never came by human impulse, but men spoke from God who were
borne along (moved and impelled) by the Holy Spirit."
2 Peter 1:20-21
.
- Prev by Date: AYHNUM AKBAR Steve Irwin is OK and here with me
- Next by Date: September 6th - St. Bega
- Previous by thread: AYHNUM AKBAR Steve Irwin is OK and here with me
- Next by thread: September 6th - St. Bega
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
